Team owners Schumacher, Johnson - NHRA teleconference

NHRA - teleconference
January 28, 2009
An interview with:
DON SCHUMACHER
ALAN JOHNSON
THE MODERATOR:
I want to thank Larry and Spencer and Tony for joining
us, and wish them the best of luck this season. Next up, I'd like to
introduce two of...

NHRA - teleconference
January 28, 2009

An interview with:
DON SCHUMACHER
ALAN JOHNSON

THE MODERATOR:
I want to thank Larry and Spencer and Tony for joining
us, and wish them the best of luck this season. Next up, I'd like to
introduce two of the team owners involved in some of the changes in the
off-season, Don Schumacher and Alan Johnson.

I'll begin with Don Schumacher, the father of Tony Schumacher and
owner of Don Schumacher Racing, which in addition to Tony Schumacher will
have under its direction this year a second Top Fuel car, three Funny Cars
and one Pro Stock Motorcycle entry.

Don, can you begin with an opening statement on the turn of events
that began with the announcement at Indy? And bring us up to date on the
U.S. Army program heading into 2009 now that you've had a chance to test
with the new team?

DON SCHUMACHER:
Well, the announcement of the events of Alan forming
his own team that was made at Indianapolis really began when Alan and I
first got together. That was always something that Alan talked about and
desired to do was to be able to go back and create his own team and be a
team owner again. That was known by me, clearly told to me by Alan, and
understood.

So all of that was something that wasn't necessarily expected but
certainly accepted on my part. I certainly wish Alan and the whole team
success, except every time they pull up against the Army car or the FRAM
car. We all look to go out there and win every race and every round that we
compete in.

But as a person and as a family man, I certainly can only give Alan
every accolade that he deserves and has accomplished. Not only in this
sport but in life in general. He's one of the best people in the sport, and
certainly a great businessman. His tuning ability speaks to itself. Alan
is one of the best out there.

THE MODERATOR:
You moved some of the parts from the U.S. Army to the
FRAM team in terms of personnel the U.S. Army team heading into 2009?

DON SCHUMACHER:
It doesn't appear the U.S. Army team has missed a
beat at all. It's going to be a challenge to go out there and race against
Alan when we raced with him in the past. We'll see how his new crew chief,
Jason McCulloch is able to do. But Jason's been No. 2 man for a number of
years, and certainly has a lot of talent and knowledge and experience.

So it's going to be certainly a challenge. I look for the U.S. Army
team to be in the heat of the competition all year long.

Q:
Next I'd like to introduce Alan Johnson. The long time
crew chief of the U.S. Army dragster who in 2009 will be in charge of his
own team which will include a dragster driven by Larry Dixon, and a funny
car driven by Del Worsham. Opening comment from you when this deal started
to come to fruition? And can you bring us up to date on where your programs
are heading into 2009?

ALAN JOHNSON:
Sure, thanks. Appreciate the opportunity to speak with
you guys. You know, I had a wonderful run there with DSR and the U.S. Army.
It was something that I would never -- it's something that you just don't
dream of. It's just something that happens.

I'll never forget the opportunity that I had there and the fun that we
had racing together and winning all those races.

The middle of last year an opportunity came about to partner with
Sheikh Khalid from Qatar and form the Alan Johnson, Al-Anabi team for 2009
and beyond.

And as our negotiations went on, the opportunity became more and more
exciting as we grew. It certainly wasn't something I looked forward to
making the announcement that it was going to break up that team over there.
But this is drag racing and it's my life, something that I love to do.

The challenge of owning my own team and trying to win under the banner
of Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi is something I've looked forward to for a number of
years.

We've put together a great team, we've got great personnel, two
wonderful drivers, seasoned professionals. We're going to go out and try to
create a top-notch professional race team and compete for a championship
from the beginning of the year forward.

Q:
Can you give us an idea what it's going to be like? There
were so many great moments for you with DSR, the end of the season in '06
and '07 come to mind immediately. What will it be like the first time
you're there in the staging lanes at the starting line not in the same lane
at DSR, standing adjacent to, as opposed to next to, Don?

ALAN JOHNSON:
I think we got a taste of that. We got to lineup
against him a few times. But like the drivers said, you can't see the paint
job when you're sitting in the car, and, you know, I'll be racing my crew
chiefs will be racing. You know, the car in the other lane.

We're going to spend our time looking forward and the things that we
need to accomplish and the things we have to do to get where we want to be.
And we won't, you know, probably not spend a lot of time looking at the
past. We're going to continue to look forward and try to get our team in a
position, our U.S. Army team was in that great run for five years.

Q:
Alan, your racing history is all about championships. Do
you think champions have common traits and abilities? And if so, how has
that made your job more effective? And how do you think it will help your
future?

ALAN JOHNSON:
Well, I think you know the Championship thing is just a
reflection of the dedication and finding the people who you surround
yourself with that can help you do it. You can't do it yourself. I have to
rely on the personnel that I've put together.

I think throughout the years winning the Championships and being able
to recognize the people that can help me accomplish the goals that we set
out to is the key here.

Q:
Don, can you walk us through Phoenix last weekend, the test
sessions you had with the U.S. Army team? Were there any runs that were
particularly noteworthy?

DON SCHUMACHER:
I wasn't really in Phoenix for that test session. I
chose to stay back east with my family and actually enjoyed myself down in
Florida rather than up in cold Chicago.

Today I'm actually down in Indianapolis in Brownsburg. And boy, they
certainly did get a foot of snow down here. But the Army team performed at
the level that they wanted to perform at. They came away from the test
session in Palm Beach, Florida with high hopes and high expectations.

They left Phoenix with that same situation. They ran very good. All
of the parts looked good, the team worked well together. They've certainly
gotten to know each other and trust and rely on each other. Those were all
of the keys to putting Tony together with a new team with Mike Green. Even
though Mike Green's been in my organization for a year now, it was key to
get them to understand and feel very comfortable with each other, and they
accomplished those things in both of these test sessions down in Florida and
in Phoenix.

Q:
Alan, could you provide a little background in how this
team is set up maybe in terms of funding? My understanding is that I guess
it's being run by the Sheikh and everything, but do you have any other kind
of sponsorship lined up as well?

ALAN JOHNSON:
Not really. You know, we formed a partnership between
Alan Johnson Racing and Al-Anabi Racing, which is led by Sheikh Khalid from
Qatar. My responsibility in the partnership is to provide a championship
caliber Top Fuel and Funny Car team. His responsibility is to make sure
that the team is funded well.

So far everything is working wonderfully. Our testing has gone as
good as we could expect after spending seven weeks putting the whole program
together. So we're excited. We're looking forward to it. The people from
Qatar are excited as well.

Q:
As a follow-up, in I guess a sponsor driven sport like
racing, there's not going to be plain brown wrappers or anything like that.
They're going to have some kind of design to them, am I right?

ALAN JOHNSON:
Yeah, sure. We've designed the cars to try to
represent the Al-Anabi, which Al-Anabi the English translation from that is
Go Maroon. And their flag is maroon and white. And for seven years their
brand recognition for a number of their sponsored sporting teams including
their football teams and their -- even their pro mod teams has been Al-Anabi
which is Go Maroon. It's almost like saying go USA, or go team USA for the
Olympics. It's pretty much the same type of thing.

Q:
What has been the biggest challenge that you've faced in
the last seven weeks putting this team together in browns berg?

ALAN JOHNSON:
It's hard to pick one out, it's been quite a challenge.
Fortunately for me I was able to put together a very strong list of
personnel, including my general manager Chad Head who has devoted pretty
much 100 hours a week to this project, and all the other crew members who
have spent 12 hours a day plus getting to where we're at.

Just the challenge of logistics and having all the suppliers get our
parts in time to where we can put this thing together is the challenge.
Everybody's come through quite well, it's been exciting for us.

Q:
You guys being the ones signing the paychecks here for the
whole deal, how does this thought of a natural rivalry that you're obviously
going to have this year. There are two of you guys?

DON SCHUMACHER:
I'm excited about this season as far as the rivalry
between Alan Johnson and Don Schumacher. I consider Alan a friend and, like
I said, a great businessman and great family man. I'll always consider him
that.

I don't really consider anything personal or on a rivalry basis
against Alan. Like the drivers have said and Alan said, when you pull up to
the starting line you really don't know who the car is and the other lane or
who the owner is, you just look to try to win that round and go on from
there.

So I respect Alan as a person, and a family man and look forward to
racing any car that's in the other lane. And there's a lot of other teams
out there that are going to be really tough this year as they have been in
the past.

ALAN JOHNSON:
Well, I think if there's going to be a rivalry develop
between the teams it's probably something that's going to happen on its own
just from a pure competitive nature. I don't think there will ever be
anything personal involved.

But if it comes down to we're number one and number two going into the
end of the year, we're certainly going to want to beat each other. That is
the nature, that is the reason we compete in this.

We don't spend this much time and this much energy creating a race
team just to go out and have a good time together. We're competitive. I
mean, we're both competitive. We had a great time racing together. Now
we're going to be racing against each other.

But it's all about the competition to us. If a rivalry develops
between the teams or the drivers, whatever, that's going to have to happen
naturally. That's not going to be something -- we don't have it now,
there's nothing there for us to be a rivalry about. We're going to be two
owners going out and trying to compete against each other.

Q:
Don and Alan, you guys are probably a couple of the best
financed teams. So I have two questions regarding money. Number one, how
do you feel about the limit to four days of testing? And how will that
affect your budget? And secondly, you've had a year now to run in the 1,000
foot, and I've read you guys have said it's saved you some money. I wonder
if you might comment on that.

ALAN JOHNSON:
I think Don can attest and my crew members over the
years can attest that I'm not a real big fan of testing any which way.
That's kind of what qualifying, we try to use qualifying for testing as
well. There are occasions with the U.S. Army car did some testing while I
was there, but it was never -- it was never anything consistent. We didn't
test after every race.

I think last year we may have tested after maybe one or two races. So
the fact that they're going to limit us to four days is not going to be an
issue for my team. I don't think it will be an issue for Don either being
that we've never tested much in the past anyway.

So as far as the 1,000 foot thing, does it save money? Certainly it
does. Is it going to be better for our teams? I don't know that that makes
that much of a difference. But it's certainly going to help the teams that
aren't funds as well be more competitive. Because their smaller budgets
will make them more competitive on a race day basis. With us, it should be
a more level playing field.

DON SCHUMACHER:
I concur with what Alan had to say. The testing
situation is really that. Unless you have some new parts to test and some,
you know, a new chassis, a driver to get licensed or something that's really
different, we shouldn't be out there just running on Mondays to learn how to
try to race.

So the Army car did not test much to speak of in all of the years that
Alan was aboard. And the way Alan runs things, that's the way it is, and
that's the way it should be. So I support the restrictions on the testing
on Mondays after the races.

As far as the 1,000 foot versus 1,320 feet the cars definitely run
with less part damage running the 1,000 feet than the 1,320 feet. I think
it puts on a better show for the fans. Most of the teams. Of there's
closer racing, or most of the racing is much closer than it was in the 1,320
feet. I think it's a better show, a safer environment for the teams, the
drivers and the fans. It's exciting as far as I'm concerned.

Q:
Alan, everyone knows how the economy has taken a down turn.
And you've announced your decision to start your team. I'm wondering in
light of that, have you ever second guessed yourself for going into a
partnership at this point in time? Or has the Sheikh given you a blank
check?

ALAN JOHNSON:
No, there's no blank check. We have an agreement. We
have just like anybody else would. I tend to not second guess myself. I
made a decision a number of months ago, and I will maintain my involvement
and work as hard as I can to make it work. Now the fact that the economy
has gone a little bit backwards, that's going to affect all of us, not just
myself. And I just I can't second guess myself.

I think that the people that I'm involved with from Qatar are
certainly feeling the crunch as much as anyone else, but on the other hand,
I think they're going to do their best to make sure that we stay funded well
enough to be a competitive.

Q:
This whole thing for you running a team, when you kind of
look back on your career, where did you envision yourself being at this
point? And how close has this come to kind of fulfilling that dream?

DON SCHUMACHER:
In 1999 and 2000 I had a race team with a Funny Car
and a dragster. We lost our funding for both teams in 2002. At that point
my dream and my goal was definitely to have my own team again. And I knew
that I wouldn't be satisfied with either one Funny Car or one dragster.

So the fact that I was able to get one of each has fit the plan
perfectly. Would we have more cars in the future? That's certainly
possible. But, you know, this is kind of where I wanted to get back as a
team owner.

One of the exciting things for me going forward is to be able to watch
my new crews for both teams be able to compete on on their own, and watch
them grow as crew chiefs and crews together and be competitive in the sport
of drag racing. My rule would be to guide them and provide them with the
tools that they need and try to turn this into a championship operation for
years to come.